Computer Book Reviews

Cyber Rules by
Thomas M. Siebel and Pat House

Cyber Rules provides a summary
of the development and history
of the Internet as a marketplace and business
tool, and provides expert instruction
and advice on the rules and principals
of e-business.
Cyber Rules is
written by Thomas M. Siebel, founder
and CEO of the billion dollar
business software company,
Siebel Systems, and Pat House,
executive vice-president and Chief
Operating Officer at Siebel.
Siebel provides a history of the Internet
to date including some crucial rules of e-commerce
which include:
Zapping is the Way of the Web, Direct Traffic
Aggressively, Be Seen at the Front Door, Think
Convenience and Close the Loop.
In the rest of the book, Siebel provides information
about what he thinks the future of e-business
might hold. He dicusses issues such as bandwidth, virtual middleman,
customerization and other e-commerce developments.
Because of his position in the technology
business, Seible is in a position to know. Many of his projections are
likely possibilities.
The final section of the book, entitled "Getting
There From Here", provides
information on getting started online including
developing an Internet strategy, finding an
ISP, developing the website, managing the
website and measuring its return.
The book also includes fascinating comments
and quotes from other industry experts including
Eric Schmidt, Novell Chairman and CEO, Warren
Adams, President of PlanetAll which was recently
Purchased by Amazon.com, Cisco Systems
Chief Information Officer Pete Solvik and
Charles R. Schwab, who wrote the book's forward.

Thomas M. Siebel and Pat House have
created a valuable reference on the
rapidly developing world of e-business
that is full of surprising facts and
practical business advice.
An important book that all business
professionals should read.

This unique marketing tool, which
comes with graphic software
and a reference book, combines
graphic design and guerilla marketing
techniques into one helpful volume.
The book provides instruction on
creating and utilizing different types
of marketing materials including:
logos, business cards, stationery,
brochures, newsletters, websites,
magazine ads, newspaper ads, classifieds,
direct mail, postcards, reminders, invitations,
flyers, online marketing, signs, labels,
T-shirts, presentations, calendars and
holiday cards. In addition to instruction
on creating these marketing items, the
book also provides valuable information
on how to use these items to effectively
promote your product or service.
A companion CD-ROM includes the software
program Adobe PhotoDeluxe, which allows
you to create the promotional items
addressed in the book. The CD-ROM
also includes clip art and information
about other graphics software products.
Guerrilla Marketing with Adobe PhotoDeluxe
is an excellent reference tool for creating and running
effective marketing campaigns for your
home office or small business.

Microsoft Frontpage 98
by Laura Lemay

This reference provides detailed information
about how to set up and use the powerful
web tool Microsoft FrontPage 98.
The book begins with information on how
to navigate and use the software including
basic concepts and step-by-step
examples with illustrations and
screen shots.
The book also includes coverage of advanced
FrontPage topics including:
style sheets, themes, images, sound,
animation, FrontPage components,
forms, Java applets, scripts and ActiveX.
The final section in the book covers administering
and maintaining your website.
An appendix in the book includes a quick-reference
section for FrontPage extensions and HTML code.
The enclosed CD-ROM includes third party
software tools.
Web guru Laura Lemay has created an excellent guide to
web page development using Microsoft's
web building tool. A valuable learning tool for first-time
FrontPage 98 users.